Diet and Nutrition

Sugar-Free Dirt and Worms Dessert

If you’re looking for a silly dessert for a school Halloween party or your child’s Halloween party, and want to bypass filling them with sugar, we’ve got just the recipe for you. This wiggly treat is usually chock full of sugar, but when you follow these simple homemade recipes, you’ve got an even sweeter reason to make it.

1. For individual servings, use small paper or plastic party cups, or cupcake liners. For one single batch, place in a flower pot or kids sand bucket.

2. Fill about half full with Diabetic Pumpkin Pudding. This is a homemade pudding recipe that you’ll find to be irresistible during the fall season. It’s thick and creamy, and only has 123 Calories. (more…)

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Natalie K

10 Perfect Post-Workout Snacks

Post-workout snacks are very important due to the fact that your body uses muscle glycogen stores to energize your workout. Replenishing these stores is vital for muscle recovery, muscle growth and repair. If your workouts last for a longer bout of time than normal, you need to replenish throughout the workout. For example, I just ran a marathon and I replenished my body every three or four miles to keep from depleting the energy stores.

Depleted energy stores can cause cramping, dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, or early fatigue. By hydrating and refueling your body throughout your workout, you will be able to exercise longer, harder, and more efficiently. I suggest a pre- and post-workout snack every day you workout, and for workouts lasting longer than a hour or so you should replenish during as well. I recommend a low-fat, high-protein snack after your workout. (more…)

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Matt

New Purple Tomatoes Get Antioxidant Boost

A team of UK genetic scientists engineered tomatoes with a purple pigment taken from snapdragons. This pigment contains the antioxidant known as anthocyanin, which is the same antioxidant found in blueberries and blackberries. The scientists’ rationale was the thought that inserting this pigment into the plant would boost the tomato’s level of antioxidants, however they were not expecting the surprise of the tomatoes changing colors! (more…)

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Kinsey

4 Halloween Recipes with a Healthy Twist

The October Featured Guest Blogger of the Month, are two talented ladies from ChewOnThat Blog. They’re two foodies who can’t help but share their knowledge of and love for the edible everyday on their blog. They’ve always got an engaging anecdote as to why this or that recipe warms their heart, and the recipes are always a hit! We thank Maxine and Hillary for sharing their healthy recipes with us this month. See all of their October Guest Posts.

When I was growing up, we were “that house” on the street at which no one wanted to trick-or-treat. Yes, my mom was one of those dreaded parents who filled our “candy” basket with pencils, erasers and stickers. No candy. Ever. You can imagine how scarring that was for my brother and me as small children.

But now, looking back at the responsible and conscientious choice that my mother made, I must give her some credit. Halloween is one of the few days where just about everyone can justify eating a piece of candy, and my mom said, “No. I choose not to propagate the sugar high of the neighborhood.” OK, maybe she didn’t say those exact words, but I think that was some of her motivation. (more…)

Posted on October 28, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Emotional Health Leads to Weight Loss

One of the things that makes Jillian Michaels such a popular trainer on The Biggest Loser is that she really cares about her contestants and recognizes that weight gain/loss can be more complex than calories in-calories out. There are a lot of other factors that affect our bodies and metabolisms. It took Brittany Aberle nearly her entire time on the show to discover a hormone imbalance (PCOS) that was slowing down her weight loss.

Another important aspect that Jillian seems to get is the connection between physical health and mental health, possibly because her mother is a psychologist. Every season, as her contestants start to lose weight, Jillian recognizes and helps her contestants to address the emotional issues that are rising to the surface, revealed by the process. This season she’s worked closely with Coleen and Michelle. (more…)

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

Study Shows Junk Food Responsible for One-Third of Heart Attacks

Not too surprising to me or for most people, but a study was done which supported a known fact, linking junk food or a “Western” diet and heart attacks. More specifically, junk food was found to be responsible for a third of heart attacks.

Researchers examined diets of 52 countries, questioning more than 16,000 patients, in which 5,700 of them had recently suffered their first heart attack. The participants were divided into one of three groups based on their diet/reported food intake. One group was labeled ‘Oriental’ because of its high intake of tofu, soy, and other sauces, the second group was ‘Western’ because of its high intake of fried food, salty snacks, and meat, and the third group was labeled ‘Prudent’ because of its high intake of fruits and vegetables. (more…)

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Kinsey

10 Must-Have Pre-Workout Snacks

Eating before exercising has been shown to improve performance and is a great way to improve endurance and stamina. The goal to snacking before a workout is to keep it simple. Don’t eat a huge meal that leaves you feeling bloated. The purpose of a pre-workout snack is to help prevent low blood sugar, increase muscle and liver carbohydrate stores, and prevent hunger throughout the duration of your workout. Preventing low blood sugar is important because you can become lightheaded, dizzy, and lose concentration if not properly maintained. Keeping the muscle and liver carbohydrate stores full is important because this helps provide you with long lasting energy to fight through your workout. (more…)

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Matt

The Skinny on Free Online Weight Loss Programs

As the Internet is helping us to do all things we could only dream about – work from home, create our own business, do all of our holiday shopping – it is also giving an opportunity to those who want to lose weight, to adopt an online program and drop those pesky 10, 20 or 50 pounds.

There are a host of online weight loss programs out there, but in these tough economic times, spending monthly membership dues on a diet program may be a luxury we can no longer afford. So here is a look at some great online weight loss programs that are, best of all, free! (more…)

Posted on October 27, 2023 by heather

Healing Feelings from Dr. Phil’s Keys to Weight Loss

As we continue to work through Dr. Phil’s Keys to Weight Loss and keep track of his Ultimate Weight Loss Race, we dig a bit more deeply into the second key. Dr. Phil’s website directs focus using the second key with the following mandate, “Overcome emotional overeating by managing inappropriate reactions to stress; solving problems rather than dwelling on them; changing self-defeating thoughts, since more often than not, feelings follow thoughts; gaining closure on unfinished emotional business; and learning new ways to cope without resorting to food”. Just that statement could be overwhelming with all the difficult things that are included. One issue many have with Dr. Phil is that telling you what to do doesn’t necessarily lead to life change because it leaves you without knowing how to do what he told you to do. So let’s break it down. (more…)

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

The Connection Between Yoga and Vegetarianism

Let’s just set the record straight: You do NOT have to shun meat in order to down-dog. It is true that many long-time yoga devotees are vegetarian, but renouncing noshing on creatures with two or four legs is not a prerequisite to yoga.

But since there does seem to be a strong connection between the two, perhaps it’s worth looking into.

Understanding the Philosophical Principles Behind Yoga

For some practitioners, yoga and vegetarianism go hand-in-hand because of the philosophy of yoga which is built upon a principle of harmlessness. The Sanskrit term for non-violence, “ahimsa,” is a very important religious and spiritual tenet adopted by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and it is one of the five “niyamas,” or personal restraints, put forth in Patanjali’s yoga, the sage behind the Yoga Sutras, or the classical document of yoga. (more…)

Posted on October 26, 2023 by heather

It Pays to Slow Down When You’re Eating

Hey, slow down there cowpoke. Take a deep breath. Eat slowly. It could save you some extra pounds around your waistline.

Japanese research suggests that eating your meals too fast can almost double the weight you gain. It all goes back to your stomach signaling to your brain, “Hey, enough already!”. If you eat slowly, you will eat less by the time your brain finally figures it out.

“If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before your gastric feedback has a chance to start developing – you can overfill the thing,” says Professor Ian McDonald, from the University of Nottingham in the UK.

“The old wives’ tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true – if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact.”

There’s more on the study over at the BBC’s website.

As I write this, I am chomping on those little cheddar flavored goldfish. Not only are they an unhealthy snack, but I am eating them way too fast.

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Jason